Thursday, 19 February 2015

From dark to light

The watercolour of this modest church was painted in the
early morning, just as the sun rose over the beautiful city of Orvieto in
Italy. A few days before I had spied it as a possible subject for a painting,
tucked away in a small piazza close to the city wall, overlooking the
surrounding countryside.

Orvieto is full of the most amazing and often very grand
architecture, but I am generally more
interested in subjects that are a little hidden, less obvious than more showy
attractions, the neglected allotment rather than the manicured garden, the alleyway
rather than the high street. Camile Pissaroput this idea very well when he said ‘Blesssed are they who see
beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing’.

Whenever I reach a new destination, I like to spend time
noting possible locations - where I might sit on my fold-away stool, my paints
and water pot at my feet, will I be in shade or sun, am
I safe from traffic and how noticeable will I be to passers by? Surprisingly,
most people, especially in Europe, barely notice an artist working in situ and
those that do, are almost always very complimentary and kind. Beyond Europe the
attention might be more intense, but again, well intentioned. In Malaysia a shopkeeper
gave me a large rattan hat to shade my head, in Trinidad a man directed
pedestrians behind me, allowing me an uninterrupted view of my subject!

It all makes for a better interaction with the people nearby
and for the occasion to be even more memorable.

Light is also a consideration, as contrast created by strong
shadows or colour is essential to give drama to a painting. Which is of course,
one of the great advantages of painting in countries such as Italy, as the light
tends to be very bright. The painter may have even more chance of creating
something with lively contrast in the early morning, or at dusk, when the light
can often be at it’s most dramatic. Of course the shadows are constantly
changing, but that just makes me work more rapidly, which hopefully gives the
painting an immediacy and a sense of place, something I value more than flat,
even washes, or carefully rendered detail.

I began painting watercolour using the traditional technique
of laying a series of pale washes, gradually building the right tonal values. After leaving Art College I found some
freelance work, producing watercolour illustrations for a large format book
about the British countryside. The publishers asked me to follow the style
ofanother of the illustrators working on the
book, Brian Sanders. Apart from his fresh, lively brushwork I guessed Brian
painted all of the dark tones first, without using the preliminary washes that
I had been using. Although I wouldn’t compare myself to the inimitable Brain
Sanders, it is an approach that I have used ever since. It’s also a similar way
to how John Singer Sargent worked, (1856 – 1925). Although probably best known
as a society portrait artist, Sargent’s luminous watercolours are often thought
to be his greatest achievement.

Fig 1.

After quickly drawing the main components of the scene with
a soft pencil, I paint the darkest tones first. This gives me a dramatic
starting point and the confidence to apply bright colours and rich tones in the
rest of the painting. I was keen to paint the intense, Mediterranean blue sky,
as this gave me another opportunity of creating contrast against the white
façade and statuary.

Fig 2.

Colours were then applied to the walls and door. I try as
far as possible to just put down the one wash, working wet on wet if more
colour , or texture is needed, this helps keep the paintwork looking fresh and
not overworked. More washes may be needed but as far as I’m concerned the fewer
the better. It was relatively straightforward
to just use one wash of Rose Madder, along with a touch of French Ultramarine
blue, on the walls of the church.Other
darker areas needed more layers but I always try to keep the number ofwashesto a minimum. I also began picking out a few details with a dip pen and
dark brown, (waterproof) ink and scratched a few touches of candle wax on to
the paving area to create a slight resist effect - once the paint was applied.

Fig 3.

With all the underlying colours painted, including a
suggestion of the hills in the distance and what must have been hints of a
waning moon in the sky, I mixedFrench Ultramarine and Alizarin Red together
with plenty of water, to paint the shadows.

The main shadow had probably moved by the time I came to add
it, but I’d kept it’s position in mind, as I liked the shape it made.Painting a large area of shadow using a very
wet wash will invariably disturb the paintwork underneath, but if painted both
quickly and without‘scrubbing’ the
surface, it should not cause too much of a problem.

Fig 4

Something I like to do, is to makemonoprints
based upon a one of my pictures, sketches or photographs, either making the
print broadly the same, or changing the image completely. It’s a versatile and
very painterly form of printmakingand like watercolour, the results are often quite
unpredictable, but using printing ink and a press, the colours and textures are
always rich and satisfy.

In this example, I decided to isolate the church and surround
it with what might be an overgrown graveyard.

Fig 5.

The print is created on a perspex sheet/plate. I cut a paper
stencil of the areas I wanted to keep white and laid this over the colours -
already painted or rolled on to the plate. Once ready to print, the plate is
put on to the bed of the printing press and a sheet of paper placed over it.
Put through the press the image on the plate is transferred to the paper. It’s
possible to paint more inkon to the
plate and to take further impressions, but each print is unique, hence the term
monoprint . I often paint into the print further, using a mixture of
watercolour and gouache.

It’s possible to make monoprints without a printing press,
by painting or rolling paint onto a sheet of Perspex, or glass, using oil or
acrylic paints. The print can be taken by hand burnishing the back of the paper
laid over the printing plate.

Southsea Pier - woodcut 45 x 65cm. This was produced using another favourite printmaking medium, the woodcut or woodblock printing, cut from plywood and hand-printed using water-based printing ink.

A versatile artist, Kevin Dean has illustrated numerous
books, magazines, designed textiles, wallpapers, ceramics and exhibited his
paintings/prints all over the world. A graduate of The Royal College of Art, Kevin
also designed much of the floral marble decoration atThe
Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi.